Waiting Too Long
by NoteEmmy
Summary: Rebecca realizes how caught up she's gotten in her work and how lonely she is. Problem is, after all this time, she's no good at attracting boys. Spotting Shizuka, and her fan boys, on TV is only half of the solution.


College had long since been past her. She finished that baby stuff when she was no older than twelve. She'd since gone on to master many fields of education. Her career following in her grandfather's footsteps had already been satisfactory. She'd dug up so many artifacts and helped history buffs rewrite their thoughts. She'd donated and helped curators with their dissertations and their exhibits. And she'd long since moved her focus onto businesses of her own and technology.

No one could truly say Rebecca Hopkins was a woman without merit. She'd done so much in her short life. A spry eighteen now and lots of accomplishments to look back on. So many, in fact, that she hardly looked eighteen. She looked like a distant late thirty.

She barely had time to take care of herself among the workload she buried herself in. She stopped taking care of her hair, her skin was pale and darkened with stress wrinkles. She always slouched and her wardrobe was full of large pants and shirts. And now in the lull of work she was realizing, as she sat alone in her apartment she was coming to a sad state of mind-

Rebecca Hopkins did not have a single person in the world. The dream of chasing Yuugi had long since been crushed when he'd proposed to Anzu. She was happy for them, really. But it left her in an odd spot. She swore she'd never love like that again. And yet… who would love her anyway? The dating scene seemed so outdated. She wasn't an awkward teenager by any stretch of the imagination but boys just didn't seem interested.

Worst of all she had no idea who on earth she could ask to help her. Her pride would never allow her to ask anyone that she really knew. They'd laugh if she told them this sort of secret. But who? She needed help. She wanted it badly. She wanted someone. But who could possibly help her?

As she sat back in her desk chair and watched some tedious announcements about duelists and the like she saw a familiar face standing in the background. In the fore was of course a loudmouth obnoxious duelist who never seemed to stop grinning. Jonouchi Katsuya-…but behind him was his grown up and delicate looking sister. And behind her Rebecca could see fanboys.

Fanboys. Of a girl who didn't even duel. How could that be?

As her eyes narrowed and she leaned forward, adjusting her glasses, she took in the lady's appearance. Vibrant and flowing hair, soft doe like eyes, glowing skin… Yes. Shizuka knew how to attract boys, but the question was did she try? Or did she luck into this sort of thing?

And how desperate was Rebecca really?

…as she picked up the phone a few minutes later she realized she must have been very desperate. There was just a void in her life that she couldn't fill with copious amounts of work. Worse yet it was starting to interfere. Loneliness was a terrible thing to deal with. Feeling unwanted was even worse. Inviting Shizuka to coffee, forgoing her pride, changing something, all of it would help.

It had to.

On the other end of the phone, Shizuka wasn't completely surprised by the phone call. She loved going out with her old friends, after all. And since it wasn't a boy her brother had no qualms- though he did spout something about 'that brat' a few times after the name was uttered. Catching up sounded like a lovely thing to do as far as Shizuka was concerned. The sooner the better, even, which was good since Rebecca seemed rather insistent.

When she arrived at the place, a few minutes late, she spotted the other girl sitting in the back booth all the way in the corner. It looked like she was ducking, trying to avoid being caught. The sight made Shizuka very uneasy. Rebecca was younger than her and yet looking at her now she seemed so very old.

A frown appeared as she stepped around the side of the booth and placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Are you alright?" Had something happened, perhaps?

Rebecca looked up, a little startled, before fixing her glasses and forcing a smile. "Yeah! Of course!" The tone was at least confident. One really didn't grow out of that sort of thing. She was so used to brimming confidence that she forgot how to be quiet sometimes.

Shizuka accepted it for now, nodding and going to sit on the opposite side. "So, how have you been?" She had to know, not that it wasn't extremely apparent with those dark shadows under the other girl's eyes.

"Busy! Working, mostly." As if she had time for anything else. "We've just started beta testing on alphanumeric project seven and the results look really good. If we get a few more rounds of positive numbers we'll start the go ahead and…" She looked up from the table, and her blathering, to see a rather confused pair of eyes staring at her.

Was this what the boys hated?

She smiled awkwardly. "Sorry. You don't wanna hear about that. Business talk. I shouldn't have." What did normal people talk about?

"No! No. It's alright. I'm just not very good with that stuff." Like brother like sister, maybe. She wasn't the brightest person in the world. That technobabble had really swirled around her head. She was glad Rebecca had realized, though. She wouldn't have stopped her on her own. "But that's great! It sounds like you're doing really well!" Which was always good news.

Rebecca's eyes went a little downcast. "Yeah." It was the truth, but she didn't sound happy about it at all.

Something Shizuka picked up instantly. Without thinking she reached across the table to lay her hand on top of the other girl's. "Rebecca… is something wrong?" Why was she called so suddenly? Why did the other look so distraught? …and stressed?

Her lips pursed, body almost forcing her to keep quiet. Surely she could talk about anything else. She could brag about how well her numbers were doing. She could boast about how well her own start up company was going along. She could go on and on about how much work she'd been doing- but none of it was what she'd come here to say. Her eyes closed, hands clenching and the words ran in her mind over and over but she couldn't seem to make them go.

She just had to get it out and not look back. She'd wasted all this time setting this up when she could be working. It was worth something! She just had to-

"Alright! This is really embarrassing! But I saw you on the TV and you have so many guys drooling over you! Not that I want that! But just… just SOMEONE!" Instead of rushing it just came out loud. She yelled every sentence. And by the time she was done her face was burning red.

Shizuka seemed rather stunned, withdrawing her hand and staring a little blankly before smiling and then despite the situation laughing a little. It only spiked Rebecca's ire. "It's not funny!" It really wasn't. The crushing loneliness was honestly killing her.

"No! I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She apologized quickly. "I'm just so relieved. I thought something serious had happened." But just tips on how to pick up boys?

Rebecca was less than pleased with this answer. She pouted, a trait which she also found too difficult to get rid of from her childhood days. "This is serious."

Shizuka tilted her head, taking in the woman's appearance. "Yes. Alright." Her hands went to her lap and she composed herself. "…but what is it you want from me?" The object wasn't exactly clear to her.

For that matter, Rebecca wasn't sure how to parse it out into words. This had seemed like a good idea, but why? What exactly did she want Shizuka to do for her? "…I don't know." Pouting harder, tone going into a whine. "You look so … _soft_. I figured that has lots to do with it but… I don't know how." That sounded about right. It felt like what she'd thought when she'd seen Shizuka on the TV.

The woman opposite her tilted her head a little more, eyes raking over the other. It made Rebecca feel a little uncomfortable. Once more her hands reached over the table. "I think I can help." Most definitely. She knew that she could. "But not here. Let's go back to my place."

Immediately Rebecca felt like rejecting the idea and staying out in the open. But she'd done all this already. What could going to Shizuka's place harm? It could only make it better, not worse. Really. There was nothing Shizuka could do to make what she'd done to herself worse.

Soon she found herself in more trouble than she'd thought. A chair was propped up against Shizuka's small sink and she was almost forcibly put into it. The water was turned on and immediately trouble began. The redhead was having trouble even getting that worn scrunchy out of the blonde's hair. There were so many tangles. Once the pulling began Rebecca feared the worst.

And she was gladly proven wrong. Shizuka's actions were entirely soft, loving almost, as if she'd done this her entire life. She pulled the band free after a few moments and began brushing through that dirtied and tangled hair. Rebecca drifted off even, having enough comfort and space to do so. Shizuka was working some kind of hair magic, as far as the other was concerned.

Once all the knots came out it was washed twice and then conditioned. A towel was wrapped around Rebecca's shoulders and she was told to sit up. Then the magic continued again as Shizuka brushed through and blow died her hair. The woman being worked on was starting to melt into her chair. She couldn't remember the last time she'd been treated so delicately. It was bringing a warmth to her face that she didn't even mind. And when Shizuka started humming she felt a fuzzy feeling settle inside her.

Next Shizuka removed the woman's glasses before sitting her back again and cleaning her face. It was a little embarrassing to hear just how many blackheads she'd acquired in her long journey of work but it went away after those soft and delicate fingertips started massaging some sort of solution and cream into her face. Once that was washed off it felt like her face was glowing.

Next she sat the other up and went to her "modest" make up kit. It was at least modest in the way she applied it. Rebecca was only half listening at this point, wholly too content, the most relaxed she'd been in a long, long time. But she was sure she'd heard something about a "natural look".

Shizuka disappeared into her bedroom after that and Rebecca could hear drawers opening and closing and the closet being rummaged through. Once she was done she came back into the bathroom to hand Rebecca an outfit. "Try this on and I think we're almost done!"

She turned to leave, sitting on her bed and waiting. The dress she'd gave Rebecca was one of her favorites, but she didn't mind sharing. A long flowy one that she thought would compliment the color of Rebecca's eyes just right. It was a little embarrassing for the other as her legs were obviously not the paramount of glorious smooth that men associated with women wearing dresses, but she wasn't going out just now so it didn't matter. At the same time she still left her pants on.

When she appeared in the doorway Shizuka beamed at her good work, clapping her hands together and wrapping an arm around Rebecca to usher her towards the full length mirror in her closet door.

What Rebecca was faced with was something she was entirely unfamiliar with.

"I…" She pushed at her face and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm…" Even the dress fit her just right and she tugged at the corners. "…pretty."

Shizuka released a good natured giggle. "You were always pretty. But this is what you wanted, right?"

Oh yes. Rebecca was sure no boy could resist her! Maybe not even the married Yuugi! She couldn't help herself, arms opening wide to engulf Shizuka in a hug. One that was gladly returned.

"Thank you thank you thank you thank you!"

They both held on a little longer than necessary, but Rebecca was reveling in the companionship. Maybe she didn't need a boyfriend. Maybe she needed a regular friend. After pulling back a little Shizuka smiled though waved her finger in the air. "You're welcome! But if you come back again I'll have to charge."

"Well as long as you're making offers, trust me, I can afford you." A small boast that set them both to giggling just a little. Wrapped up in another hug from Shizuka, Rebecca could feel her loneliness disappearing underneath the warmth of true companionship. She couldn't believe she'd waited so long to call


End file.
